We acquired three new "pets" this past Friday. Two praying mantises from the yard and one black widow that was hanging from the ceiling in the garage. The spider was kind of scrawny- maybe because it wasn't too smart with hanging from the ceiling as opposed to building low to the ground? I'd rather it be there than surprise me from behind something, though! It's since eaten three different other spiders and a fly. Here's something interesting- I think their webs are messy because they simply trail webbing behind them everywhere they go (that's what it appears this one has done), and she cleans her web out. She's cut out everything from her web that's she's finished eating. Yesterday she had the fly and two spiders that she was working on, and today they're on the floor of her jar and she's by herself (and very fat and sassy looking- bleahk). When we're done looking at her, we will kill her. I wanted the kids to see what a black widow looks like, so that they come and get David or myself as soon as they see one as opposed to trying to pick it up or play with it.
We had a brown mantis (Nancy) that we let go, because it wasn't eating. It was rather skinny. We kept a large, fat green one (named Dinah after a praying mantis we read about in a story) who has an insatiable appetite (crickets, grasshoppers, a centipede, moths). She is in our butterfly enclosure. Last night she had one moth and was eating it when Amelie put another one in. She kept the munched on one in one foreleg, and quick, grabbed the other with her other leg. Then she had dinner and dessert (or a side-by-side comparison of the same product). We've found her to be a messy eater- she drops a bug (even if only slightly eaten) if she's full, and drops all sorts of parts on the bottom of her enclosure (legs, wings, etc.). The kids are starting to have trouble finding adequate food since it's cooling down at night, so I've already prepped them that we'll have to let her go if they can't adequately supply her needs. I offered her a small piece of ground beef last night, but she wanted nothing to do with it (the mantis in the story we read ate some raw meat when bugs ran low).
Today the kids caught lots of crickets (cloud cover equals warmer morning, which equals more bugs running around in the morning). I may post some photos, but for now, here is a drawing by Silas.
